Deciding which course of treatment to take on an object can be a
near-impossible task, and even after I've finished working on a
clock and it's ticking away happily on a test stand, I'll still be
wondering if there was something I should have done slightly
differently...

The marine chronometer signed by John Lilley & son from 1929
has shown evidences of a failure of one of its major components.
The helical hairspring which is co-regulating the frequency of the
balance (factor determining the rate of the mechanism) was broken
by fracture near its lower attachment point. The aim of the project
was to provide a replacement spring for the chronometer which would
possess the required mechanical properties (toughness, elasticity,
shape, composition …).

One of my recent projects is a 19th century French clock signed
A.Brocot and Delletrez. I found a description of the mechanism in
Chavigny's work on the Brocot family, which revealed that a patent
was issued for this mechanism in around 1850 by Antoine Brocot.

The aim of this project was to restore to safe working order a
Japanese lantern clock belonging to the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery
& Museum. The Museum's early records had classified the clock
as Chinese. However, after conducting initial research it became
clear that the object conformed to many stylistic features of
lantern clocks from the early - mid period of Japanese clock
making.

In the summer term I was given a clock by Matthew Read, the
tutor for the clock's programme, with the advice that "it just
needed the striking to be sorted out." Having a good idea of
Matthew's sense of humour, I realised that this was going to be no
ordinary endeavour!

West Dean College student Tabea Rude has received a prize for
the best conservation-restoration project from the Southern Section
of the Antiquarian Horological Society (AHS) as part of the
prize-giving ceremony for all West Dean programmes.